June 21, 2020

3rd Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18
Romans 6:1-11
Matthew 10:24-39

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
grace and peace to you
 from the one who calls us
 to take up the cross and follow him. Amen
 
Jesus does not hold back in our gospel for today 
as he teaches about discipleship,
 what it truly means to follow him.
 
 to be a disciple says Jesus
 means uncovering the things
 that society would rather keep secret, 
it means that some will want to do bodily harm to you,
 that families will be divided, 
That you will lose your life.
 
Jesus clearly wasn’t working with a PR firm
 on his marketing for recruiting disciples.
 It is not an attractive picture he paints
 and I’ll admit in the past I’ve struggled with this passage.
 
 And yet this year, 
in the midst of all that is going on in our society and world,
 I found this passage oddly comforting.
perhaps because the world is so uncomfortable now
 and at its heart the gospel is meant to comfort the distressed 
and to disturb the comfortable
And my life is generally speaking, comfortable.
 
But Jesus knows
 that in the way of the world 
comfort of one individual or group is achieved 
at the expense of another individual or group
 and the systems that are comfortable
 will fight to the death to preserve their comfort.
 
Jesus has come to bring abundant life for all
And that means dismantling the systems that oppress people.
And the first step in that 
is to bring out into the open 
the things those in power would rather cover up. 
“For nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered proclaim from the housetops”
 
We are in a time of uncovering right now, 
what was remarkable about George Flyod’s death 
was sadly not the way he was treated
 but that it was recorded for all to see. 
 
The holiday Juneteenth 
has been observed since 1866 
and yet many people are only learning about it this year
Scholars and epidemiologists have studied for years
 in preparation for a global pandemic 
and now after the proverbial horse has escaped the barn 
the results of their studies are being widely disseminated. 
 
And while it may be uncomfortable
 for those of us hearing about these things for the first time,
 imagine the relief of those who have known all along 
who have been reduced to whispering in the past 
that now are able to proclaim from the housetops. 
 
Jesus lets us know 
that no matter how hard we try to avoid certain topics of conversation, 
they will eventually be brought out into the open,
 and that is liberating, for everyone. 
What we are experiencing is the next step on the arc toward the liberation of all. 
And Jesus knows that this will divide people.
 
That’s what Jesus means when he says
 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth, I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” 
 
The sword, 
The liberating message of Jesus
has two edges, law and gospel, 
the law to show us how we have fallen short 
and the gospel to comfort, 
 
and actually these two are often the same message, 
how it is understood depends on who hears them, 
for those who have been comfortable at the expense of others 
Jesus’ message of liberation will sound like law,
 for those who have been oppressed
 the message will sound like gospel, good news. 
 
Jesus says that to be a disciple 
we must take the side of the oppressed, 
This is what the call to take up the cross means
 
the cross, was an instrument of state terror 
designed to make a horrifically painful example
 of anyone who tried to defy the empire,
Those who were crucified were killed
Because they were seen as a threat to the status quo
A threat to the comfort of those in power.
 
This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus
To openly talk about the secrets of society
To take the side of the oppressed
To take on the powers of the world.
Why would we want to be a disciple?
 
Because to be a disciple
Also means that we are known and valued by God
Jesus knows his message is difficult,
 three times in this passage he says do not be afraid 
and in the end affirms the value of each individual disciples,
 “even the hairs of your head are all counted, so do not be afraid.” 
 
to be a part of the Jesus movement 
is to be a part of something much larger than yourself 
and at the same time be known and valued for your own individual gifts and talents,
 and it is because we are so valued 
that we are able to take risks for others.
 
Paul picks up a variation on this theme in his letter to the Romans.
Writing looking back through the lens of the crucifixion and resurrection
He says “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life...The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
 
Christ died and rose for us
To set us free from sin
being turned in on ourselves, 
taking care of our own comfort at the expense of others.
 In relation to God
 the matter of sin has been taken care of by Jesus
 
 but just because God forgives us 
does not mean that we keep sinning 
rather it means that we try to live without sin 
and this is a daily struggle. 
 
This is the essence of the baptismal life
The daily dying to sin
And rising to new life in Christ
All because God has unequivocally claimed us.
 
Today happens to be my baptism birthday, 
33 years ago my parents brought me to the font
And God claimed me.
 
 While it’s hard to believe 
that that baby needed to be forgiven for anything, 
what that moment did was start a lifelong journey
to live a life bigger than myself
 
 and sometimes that means 
setting aside my own comfort and security for the sake of others
 just as Jesus set aside his own comfort and security 
as he went to the cross for the sake of the whole world. 
 
This is Jesus’ call to all of us, 
to face discomfort, division and fear, 
not because it might save us, 
but that it might save someone else.
 
 Jesus expects this of us 
because it is exactly what Jesus himself did 
but we do this 
secure in the fact that we are known by God, 
who values us and knows every last detail about us, 
down to the number of hairs on our head.
 
We are in a moment in time 
where we are being called to set aside our own comfort
 and act for the sake of others
 whether it is wearing a mask in public,
 or taking the time to learn about 
how the sin of racism infects the ways of the world, 
challenging the powers that say some are more valuable than others. 
 
And we are up for the challenge
Not because we are particularly brave
But because we are so thoroughly loved by God. Amen